1) using profanity or any euphemisms for profanity
2) personally attacking other commenters
3) baiting other commenters
4) arguing for the sake of arguing
5) discussing politics
6) using hyperbole when something less will suffice
7) using sarcasm in a way that can be misinterpreted negatively
8) making the same point over and over again
9) typing "no-hitter" or "perfect game" to describe either in progress
10) being annoyed by the existence of this list
11) commenting under the obvious influence
12) claiming your opinion isn't allowed when it's just being disagreed with

Just wanted to proclaim my dorkiness by letting you know my question was posted on Tom Verducci's mailbag article at cnnsi.com

http://tinyurl.com/8w3g5

under Alex, Medford, Oregon.

Sadly, he doesn't add much insight into my questioning the media's displeasure with DePodesta and the Dodgers. Looking at the entire team, it's obviously an upgrade over 2004 in the hitting, pitching, and outfield defense departments. It seems answers are in the "we need to wait and see" area as to the Dodgers, yet they didn't wait and see before lashing out against them.

You're asking the man who put Alex Cora in his dream lineup whether DePodesta gets credit for signing Jeff Kent? You are an optimist, and I credit you for it, but Verducci was lost to idiotarianism long ago.

On March 25, 2003, Steve Schmoll was pitching a no-hitter during the eighth inning against the U.S. Naval Academy when the lights at Maryland's Shipley Field mysteriously went out and plunged the game into darkness. After half an hour, the game was resumed, and Navy proceeded to tag Schmoll for seven hits and five runs during the conclusion of the eighth inning. However, Schmoll was redeemed when one of his teammates hit a walk-off RBI single in the ninth to win the game. Schmoll's 15 strikeouts in that game were the most by a Maryland pitcher since current Cincinnati Reds pitcher Eric Milton fanned 15 in 1996.

Tonight, I'll be eating dinner at someone's home in Sierra Madre. I think posting on Dodger Thoughts while eating dinner as a guest at someone's home is not considered cool.

But I'm unclear on the etiquette.

I'm looking for restaurant suggestions tomorrow for the Valley. I've abandoned my childhood home and just want a nice, non-chain place to eat in the north end of the Valley. Although if someone has a very compelling argument for something along Ventura Blvd., I will listen.

touring the leagues, former Dodger Tanyon Sturtze gave up 4 runs in 1 inning as the Yankees are about to lose again, Guillermo Mota picked up the loss giving up the game winning run in the 9th to the Mets, and Dave Ross is 0-2 today.

#3 Linkmaster- Shea Stadium really is the crummiest stadium I've ever been in. Veteran's Stadium in Philly seemed quaint by comparison. Unfortunately, those two and Olympic Stadium in Montreal (bad stadium, great city) were the only places to see the Dodgers on the east coast.
Bob Timmerman - is there reliable mass transit to Dodger Stadium and if not, how early do you need to you at the stdium to avoid traffic?

There is not reliable mass transit to Dodger Stadium. After a one-year experiment, the Dodgers dropped their shuttle between the Stadium and Union Station.

So, all that is left are Metro buses, which stop on Sunset and require a very long walk uphill to get to the game and have the added bonus that you get to wait around at night for one to come pick you up.

How early you need to get to the stadium to avoid traffic involves numerous factors:
1) time of the game
2) day of the week
3) size of the crowd

In Los Angeles, it's pretty hard to avoid traffic of any kind. It's just the nature of the area.

The least congested approach to Dodger Stadium is from the north off the 110. But unless you live in Pasadena or Highland Park, that won't help.

Does anyone know if there's a specific reason Tracy is going with Erickson tonight and not Dessens? I know with two off days this week they are able to skip the fifth starter. I don't know which one is considered the fifth started but I thought it was Dessens turn. I don't have a preference really but Elmer pitched better than Scott in their first starts.
One more Jackie Robinson fact: In 1966 he was the GM of the Brooklyn Dodgers football team in the Continental League. The team played as part of the NFL from 1930-1943 and from 1946-1948 as part of the All American Football Conference. Their reappearance in 1966 only lasted one year.

"He certainly doesn't think much of Shea Stadium, does he? Dead last in 'ballpark experience.'"

Like DodgerfaninNY, my only access to Dodger games is at Shea, I've seen more games there than anywhere else (also because I can't afford scalped tickets at Fenway). I dunno, some of the ballpark experience Verducci seems to want, such as "intrinsic entertainment value to the experience, not just the competition on the field" seems to be there in spades. Between every inning there is some kind of dog and pony show going on either on the field or up on the scoreboard. It's certainly the loudest park in the majors, what with the "entertainment" and the jets, and yeah, it's not especially clean. That said, it's usually pretty easy to get to, unless you're driving in over the Whitestone for a playoff game, and I've never had a problem finding parking when I've driven. The subway's even easier if you're coming from the city. The sight lines are pretty good from most seats, the tickets aren't ridiculously expensive (although the concessions are - we usually bring our own food), and you can usually get tickets.

By comparison, Fenway Park is also old and dirty, tickets require bank financing (and usually aren't available anyway), concessions are even more expensive than at Shea, and there a huge numbers of seats that are obstructed in some way. I once sat in the last row of the right field grandstand on a night that Jose Canseco hit a couple of towering home runs for Texas, and I couldn't see them once they left the bat because the roofline is so low. If you've got good seats, it's a wonderful place to watch a game, but those seats are impossible to get.

Langhorne,
My guess is they probably want to find out right away if Erickson is worth keeping on the team or not. If he has a couple more bad starts they'd probably like to use his roster spot for Penny once he becomes active.

You know, Three Rivers, and Veterans, and Riverfront were always crummy parks. Probably because they were dual sport parks. Also, Shea is pretty rundown. Only Dodger Stadium from that period is still in good shape (except for the new configuration of seats, of course).

Went to a Yankee game last weekend with my dad (his first time there, my first in 10 years), expecting some baseball experience & all we could think was: what a dump! The "facade" is a hunk of painted concrete, you can't see anything, the voiceover guy sounds prerecorded (makes sense b/c he's older than Yoda), the grounds crew desultorily trudging through Y-M-C-A stopped working around the 10^7th time, and Monument Park is a series of twinkling squares you can't visit. Yankee Mystique is truly not of this earth--if the Phillies or the Mid-80s Mariners played there, they'd have called it The Steaming Urinal or something. Older parks have their charms (the Big A and Chavez Ravine among them). Yes, I'm sure Yankee Stadium is electric in playoff games, but which park isn't besides Turner? Just don't get it. Shea can't be any worse--in its favor, it has one piece of character: the Apple; I suspect the disparity in gripes is because Yankee fans pounce on any criticism, while self-loathing Mets fans tend to look at the floor and think, "we deserve this."

I've seen alot of Dodger games in Montreal, starting with the '81 NLCS. I believe ESPN named Olympic Stadium the worst in MLB last season. And yet, you could take a clean and efficient subway right to the stadium, get a fantastic deal on hotel and food when the dollar was strong up there, and enjoy Canadian beer and smoked meat sandwiches during the game where great seats were plentiful in recent years. I'll miss it.

When I saw Shea it was during the World's Fair in '65 or '66. It was almost brand new then, I think, and it was hyped as state-of-the-art. I could have cared less about that, though, as I was a teenaged Dodgers fan who'd been away from LA for 3-4 years and missed my team dreadfully. It may be wishful memory, but I think Koufax pitched and beat the Mets that day.

The other highlight of that trip from DC? Seeing James Bond's Aston Martin at the Fair.

I am not a big Choi fan, but I feel that booing him this early is unfair and does not help the situation at all.
I know, he sucked last year too, but so far this year he has played 9 games. Thats 9 games to get acquainted with the new batting approach Eli has made him adopt.
Besides, he's making a paltry (by baseball standards) $350k.
Maybe Tracy's benching him so he doesn't have to get booed in his own home field. He might give him another look on the road where he won't feel 80,000 eyes on him.

This may get long but would you trust me if I said it was worth it? I'll limit it to bulletpoints on the man who discovered Hee-Seop Choi for the Cubs.

*Born in Bakersfield, California and father of Cubs first baseman Derek Lee. He has another son in the Mariners organization.

*He never played a day of major league ball though he was doubtless good enough to do so. Instead, he joined his brother Leron in Japan beginning in 1978. In ten seasons, he hit.308 smacked 268 home runs and drove in 884. His best season was 1980 when he hit .340 with 41 homers and 116 RBIs for Lotte.

*After retiring, he frequently visited Japan, started a busineess there--a bilingual hitting journal--and was a roving broadcaster. He apparently loved the culture and the feeling was mutual; Lee was a very popular "gaijin".

*He eventually became a roving batting instructor/Pacific Rim scout for the Cubs. He was with the team when they played the Mets in their "home opener" in 2000. He traveled with his son Derek when St. Louis went to Japan in 2003. Ever since Lee discovered Choi, the two call each other weekly.

*Lee accepted a full-time position as batting coach for Japan's Orix Blue Wave in late 2003. A month later, in a shocking move, he was promoted to manager. Orix had been piloted by Hiromichi Ishige, one of the JBL's most famous skippers. Apparently, Ishige was strict even for Japanese baseball. After Ishige was fired during a weekend series in April with Seibu, one Blue Wave player said it was like Saddam Hussein had left the team. Finishing 40 games out of first the previous seasons certainly didn't help. Lee was proud to accept the post. "Never in my wildest dreams when I came to Japan as a player in 1978, did I think I would be managing a team here 25 years later," said Lee.

*Later that season, when Nippon played Orix in the Tokyo Dome, it was the first time in 28 years of Japanese pro ball that both teams had American managers: Lee for Orix and Trey Hillman for the Nippon Ham Fighters.

*The team didn't fare much better under Lee but they had more fun. He was apparently welcome to return but he instead accepted a job with the Mets as manager of the Class A Brooklyn team. He would also assist in their Pacific Rim scouting.

"I've been involved in baseball in every capacity and I love working with young players," Lee said. "The idea of being able to come home and work with the Mets is very exciting. I've been everywhere in the world but I've never been to Brooklyn. I don't think I've been this excited about anything in a long time."

It was the last time he would be happy about much of anything. Two months later, he was under arrest for exposing himself.

*I stole the summary of a New York Times article on Lee's arrest below from this link:

http://japanesebaseball.com/forum/thread.jsp?forum=33&thread=7794

In April 2004, Leon Lee was managing the Class A Brooklyn Cyclones in the Mets organization when he was arrested in Port St. Lucie, Florida for allegedly exposing himself to four women in a hotel during minor spring training. After the arrest, Lee was forced to resign.

The prosecutor offered Lee a deal where Lee would pay $500 and perform community service and other things in exchange for the charges being dropped. Lee refuses to sign the deal because he wants to clear his name.

Meanwhile, witnesses say the women accusing Lee have repeatedly changed stories. Lee is bitter toward the Mets because they didn't stand behind him when he was arrested. Lee refuses to accept the plea bargain because no one will hire him until the case is resolved, including one NPB organization.

According to the article, Lee has liquidated many of his accounts including his retirement plans to pay legal fees to clear his name and it appears the case will go to trial.
(end of summary)

*Go to this link for a good-sized excerpt of the New York Times article here: http://www.cantstopthebleeding.com/index.php?m=20050302

*Google does not have any recent news hits on Leon+Lee+Mets so the story will have to end there for now.

"My brother wrote a commentary in the St. Louis paper last year on how run down and dangerous he thought Fenway was."

The thing about Fenway is that it is beautiful, especially when you looking at it in person. It's a work of art as far as the playing area goes, and if you have the cash and the right connections, you can thoroughly enjoy yourself there. But as you say, the parts behind the canvas need a helluva lot of refurbishing. The owners have committed to Fenway, and plans are being made to improve some of the infrastructure, which still does nothing about all the obstructed areas.

Where's that guy who spent two months in here trying to convince everyone that Jeff Kent was a has-been who was helped by park effects and couldn't play defense and we should have kept Alex Cora because he hit .280 at home last year?

And Grabowski singles in a run. That's it, Jerry. We have to change the name NOW!

If you've followed Jane's post-reunion career, it's not all that surprising, is it? Navarro had this mystique around him that just vaporized the last few years. Turns out he's just a freaky-looking geek with a crazy personal history. Knock me over with a boa.

Just came across Plaschke's piece on Dancin Frank McCourt from a few days back. The Dodgers are winning! Let's give McCourt some credit! Paul who?

Anyone else notice Eaton's body language in the 1st? He sagged visibly after two different pitches were called low, as if he was very disappointed with the result. Either his control wasn't all there, or he didn't get the call he thought he deserved. Could explain why he's been getting the ball up since then, and hasn't looked like the Dodger-killer of last season. Not that I'm complaining....

Jon, I just used the inning break to take advantage of your archive feature. Went back and read your first few posts. No comments, no comments, no comments. And I can see just from that small sample how your own approach to "dealing with the Dodgers" has evolved. I just discovered your blog during this off-season, and I'm here every day now. It must be rewarding to you how far things have come. Kudos. This from a guy who hates Stanfurd so obsessively that he has not a spot of red in his house (well, OK, maybe the lettering on a book or two). Thanks for this little community and guilty pleasure that you've created and nurtured.

Between inning Polka! fact about... the Big GRABOWSKI - this common Polish surname generally derives from the place where the family originated - and could refer to any of dozens of Polish villages with names beginning with Grab. These place names, in turn, derive from Polish roots such as grabie (meaning "rake"). Hitting run in the family?

The commercial for the SoCal Sports Report just said that Mark Gubicza was going to talk about the "mistakes the Angels made today." I almost fell out of my chair. It appeared for awhile there that Arte Moreno's Death Squad had the family members of every sports media figure in the area held hostage and secured in an undisclosed bunker.

My last parrot chose last Thanksgiving to eat the cap off my right arrow key. Seeing as how I often have the need to self edit, I was pretty upset. So I had the bird stuffed. Into the turkey, prior to to cooking. Pretty sure the little fella came to regret it's choice of diet...

I was going to mention this earlier, but Vinny did a great minute there on what Milton did wrong when he caught that fly ball in the fourth with Loretta on third. Now with the sound bad, he's quiet so we can hear the game. Name an analyst who would do that. None.

"I would think that MLB's GameDay Audio package would prevent any radio stations from broadcasting for free."

Yup. MLB controls all broadcasts over the net. The $15 is a pretty good deal, plus they archive the games, so if you can't listen in real time, you can listen to the game later. I listened to last night's game first thing this morning.

About #122 and #124 - Tracy did a double switch, subbing out Grabowski, which made sense, with the No. 9 spot leading off in the bottom of the inning. Saenz is a terrible fielder and at his best no more of a first baseman than Nakamura. You could make the case that Choi should have been put in the game. Supposedly, Nakamura is a great-fielding third baseman, though I personally haven't really seen him play in the field much at all. In any event, that might be the logic in choosing him over Choi.

Not sure if this got mentioned earlier, MLB Game Audio is offering the eal they have the past couple of years:

The season of MLB Gameday audio is free if you sign up for a Sports Illustrated subscription (first 4 issues free). The key is to cancel the magazine subscription right away (they give you a link) or once you get the first issue. Just go to the SI customer services page, log in using the address info they gave you and cancel or send them an email and ask to cancel...

Anyone with any insight into why we pulled Erickson after only 83 pitches? We let Lowe throw a lot more the other night...Plus, and this may sound a little cruel, I think we can risk injury with Erickson - I don't see him with the team for the whole year...I would have prefered that we send him back out there and continue to save the bullpen...

Seems like they'd pushed their luck with Erickson enough at that point. It was only a three run lead at the time. A lot of those groundouts were pretty sharply hit, and he was starting to get the ball up a little bit as well.

Lowe's lucky Tracy even left him in. Weaver didn't get to go for his shoutout in San Francisco.

- I was really impressed with the way the Dodgers strung together hits and walks tonight, and only one of the runs was from a home run. It is SO refreshing to see them getting on base after what seems like years of strikeouts and GIDPs.

- This was about as animated a crowd as I've seen during a game. There seems to be some extra enthusiasm going on. It's been a long time since I went to a game that felt that way. The fans seemed much more connected to the game than usual, except for the usual beach balls, of course. On the other hand, they DID do a wave in the third inning.

- The new ribbon board was not as distracting as I thought, although whenever red went up it really glowed. I imagine it's not as noticeable during day games. One panel developed a glitch late in the game. It does look a little out of place though, against the 40+ year-old seating.

- Twice between innings GM cars and trucks were trotted out into center field to promote vehicles fans could win at the end of the season. No joke. It was pathetic and people booed.

- Milton Bradley got warm ovations every time he came to bat, which was nice to see. I'm hoping there's some positive reinforcement going on there to help him keep his cool. Everybody noticed when he kept a runner from advancing late in the game and cheered for him.

- I liked Erickson tonight, although his lack of strikeouts still worries me a bit. And this was the first time in four games vs. the Padres that I've attended that the Dodgers have won. They always have trouble with SD and my presence never helps.

- Nakamura's swing annoys me every time I see it and I fear it will keep him from being productive at the major league level. Of course, once I said this out loud, he got a hit the opposite way.

- They seem to promoting celebrity appearances at the games now. Rodney Peete was there and got a mixed reaction. Wayne Gretzky got a warm applause. I think one shot showed Jonathan Silverman of "Weekend at Bernie's" fame, although it didn't show his name. And one luxury box apparently held a bunch of American Idol contestants. (I'm taking their word for it because I don't watch the show.) They were roundly booed, which seemed to surprise them.

The start of Jason Grabowski last night at first base was a none too subtle message that Tracy doesn't think much of Choi. I think Steve Henson is exactly right in his interpretation of Tracy's comments in today's LAT: the skipper doesn't think Choi can handle a good fastball.

Choi will play today but he'll also probably be thinking that every at-bat could be his last. He is thisclose to being pinch-hit for in the late innings against closers who happen to have fastballs and last I checked there are a few of those around.

I am of the opinion that Choi should've started last night. I am also of the opinion that a team that's 8-2 really doesn't need my opinion and should just keep doing what they're doing. That said, I don't think there's any doubt that Choi is in trouble.

I'm not worried about Choi. I don't think there's any much chance that Grabowski is going to take his spot. Saenz isn't going to, either. Nakamura might, for a while, but I don't think Valentin is going to be around too long. DePo didn't get Choi to have him pinch hit, and if Tracy picks that hill to die on, I don't bet DePo will hesitate to bring in a less pig-headed manager. 8-2 is great, and the way they got there has obviously been good because 8-2 is great.

But just like Erickson isn't going to get thirty starts, Saenz and Grabowski aren't going to beat Choi out of the 1B slot. Remember when Robin Ventura was brought in to spell the non-hitting, forever striking out prospect, who just didn't seem to be working out; what was his name? Oh yeah, Adrian Beltre.

Bokonon, neither Valentin nor Tracy are going anywhere. Same with Choi, for this season, at least. They will keep platooning him regularly unless he begins to break out if it in a huge way. And who knows?

"Nakamura's swing annoys me every time I see it and I fear it will keep him from being productive at the major league level. Of course, once I said this out loud, he got a hit the opposite way."

I've watched Nakamura several for several years in Japan, and I always thought that, of the Japanese players mentioned as interested in making the jump, Nori was the least likely to succeed. I thought the Mets lucked out when he backed out on them at the last minute a few years back. His swing is just so big, I figured that major league pitchers would find his holes and punish him.

But we'll see. Nori may turn out to be a guy who should have had his own chapter in Moneyball. Little bit fat. Doesn't appear real strong. Doesn't look like he can run well. He doesn't have "the good face". Really doesn't look like much of an athlete at all. And then there is the swing. You can imagine what the old-timers' scouting report on him would look like. He's another Hattenberg, only with a more unorthodox swing. When he decided to pursue playing in the MLB again this year, the response was tepid.

But he has always produced. And while the pitching in Japan is obviously not at the level of MLB, there are many pitchers here who would excel in the majors, and none them ever seemed to figure out how to attack a hole in Nori's swing.

He's a professional hitter, with a career of production behind him. Tonight's at bat, taking the ball the other way, isn't really something you'd expect from a guy like that with such a big swing, but he does it. I'm definitely hoping he proves me wrong this year and contributes.

It seems to me that every other time Valentin comes up, the count is 3-1 or 3-2 before I know it and then he fouls off a couple. I know Kent has been working the count, but where can I find stats about number of pitches seen. Is Valentine leading the team there?

I think Depo saw Valentin as a stop gap replacement for Beltre; cheap enough to allow for the acquisition of Drew, and still provide some sock. And as a power hitter, I would imagine he has a history of sitting on his pitch.

Yeah, but I always thought there had to be more to him than just being a guy who will hit a home run for you here and there, I just couldn't see what it was. He may have been stop gap, but I guarantee you Depo had a long list of possible replacements for Beltre, and I never really understood how Valentin made that list, especially when you look at his OBP over his career.

But look at what this line-up is doing. Valentin, Izturis, Repko, Saenz (when he plays) are all seeing around 4.5 pitches per at bat. Nakamura has seen almost 5 pitches per at bat. Choi is right about 4. Bradley, Drew, and Kent are all around 3.5. Phillips too.

So basically, we're averaging around 4 pitches per at bat for throughout the lineup. Throw in some hits and walks and and error here and there, and we've got the opposing starter up around 100 pitches by the beginning of the 5th inning.

I'm just guessing, but I imagine the number of pitches Valentin sees set him apart from some of the other Beltre replacement candidates with similarly underwhelming stats.

And boy do I feel a little silly. After going on about Pitches per Plate Appearance, I go over to ESPN to look at their stats page and find out that the Dodgers rank (wait for it) 29th out of 30 in pitches per plate appearance, one slot above the Washington Nationals.

I think if we had already had Nakamura DePo wouldn't have signed Valentin. But I'm kind of glad we have them both. I think Jose will continue to contribute in a platoon. Beside, he so darned good looking. I loved it the other night when Vin said he could be Zorro. I wonder if MLB would let him play in a mask and cape. I've never been a fan of Choi but I'm starting to feel sorry for him. I wish they'd just let him play a while and see what happens. As long as we don't need offense from him I'm more comfortable defensively with him at first than Grabowski, Nakamura or Saenz. Now if Werth could play first...

#211 I think you're right about Tracy; I don't think he's likely to get bounced, but only because managers of winning teams don't get dumped, and I think the Dodgers are going to have a great year. It's still a market inefficiancy, and I bet DePo punches a few walls over it.

But I think Valentin is gone by the All Star break. He's not going to have a re-break-out season at 36. He's not that good at the plate. He's started out really well, but that won't keep up. He's this year's Juan Encarnacion, except old, too.